Union Minister & BJP candidate from Karhal SP Singh Baghel on Saturday said, "Mulayam Singh Yadav did not come to Karhal willingly, he was forcefully brought there for campaigning. If he was the guardian of SP then he would have also campaigned for other weaker candidates but he isn't doing that. Children become the support system of elderly parents but he's (Akhilesh Yadav) the first child who's taking help from his older & ailing father to save himself from losing in the election, we'll not find any such example in Indian politics. Akhilesh Yadav is the captain of that ship which is sinking and he's fleeing from it, that's why he now needs the help of the former captain (Mulayam Singh Yadav) whom he removed from the captainship in 2017."
Meanwhile, the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections has been done successfully the district recorded a 59.87% turnout in votes. The first phase of polls covered 58 assembly constituencies across 11 districts of the state. These districts include Shamli, Meerut, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Aligarh, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Mathura.
Also, the state held its second phase of polling on 14th Feb. The second phase covered nine districts which are Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Badaun, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, and Shahjahanpur. BJP and SP are the main competitors in the polls.